Drivers Beware: Major Road Closures Across The Metro This Weekend

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Our old friends, the “road closed” signs and orange barrels, are back for yet another weekend performance.

Act one begins along Interstate 494 in Bloomington. Bre Grand, a MnDOT spokesperson, said the work consists of replacing the Xerxes Avenue Bridge, “adding a few westbound auxiliary lanes and resurfacing driving lanes of 494 and also reconstructing the shoulders and medians.”

The road closure ensures that crews can safely tear down the old bridge. Traffic will be detoured up to the crosstown.

“If they’re tearing down the bridge, that’s going to affect things for a while, so I guess that’s a bit more of an inconvenience,” said Jimmy John’s sandwich deliverer Robin Steinmetz.

The construction might make it more difficult for Steinmetz to be “freaky fast.”

As for act two: Eastbound Interstate 694 will also be closed between Interstate 35W and Lexington Avenue to allow crews to switch the lanes onto the new concrete roadbed.

“Pay attention to signs, slow down and make sure you’re driving cautiously through the construction zones,” Grand said.

As for sandwich delivery, that’s somebody else’s problem.

“I don’t work weekends,” Steinmetz said.

There is one other big project to be on the watch for: the Highway 62 and Highway 100 interchange. While off ramps will be closed, the loop ramps will remain open. So you might have to make a couple extra loops to get in the direction you want to go.